2003 ICGN Awards

The ICGN Awards in 2003 were presented to William D. Crist and the Commonwealth Association for Corporate Governance. This is the first occasion in which the award has been given to institution.

William D. Crist
Bill Crist personifies the characteristics and achievements that the ICGN Award seeks to recognize. Bill’s contributions to the evolving development of the corporate governance dialogue, both within the United States and throughout the world, are well recognized.

Through his many activities (some of which are outlined below), Bill has literally changed the way in which governance is perceived and practiced around the globe:

	Beginning first with his election as a trustee to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System in 1986, and continuing through his retirement from that position in January 2003, Bill has led a cultural shift – felt both within the investment and corporate communities – toward a constructive discourse between owners and managers. Bill demonstrated to corporate executives that investors are knowledgeable, responsible, and serious-minded. Through his recognized success, Bill provided a valuable model for fellow investors joining the active governance ranks.
	Through his active participation with numerous individuals and groups, including the U.S. Council of Institutional Investors, the Conference Board, the OECD Ad-Hoc Task Force on Corporate Governance, the Reverend Leon Sullivan, and this ICGN, Bill has worked to better define and refine the principles of responsible corporate ownership. The growing harmonization and rationalization of corporate governance principles that exists today is a testament to his accomplishments in this area.
	Bill’s professional training as an economist has profoundly contributed to the quality of thinking within the governance field. As a professor with the California State University (CSU) at Stanislaus, and special advisor to its Chancellor, Bill formed and continues to work with a highly energized exchange between pension experts in the United States and France. Of key import in these conversations is the role of pension funds in the capital markets. His book, Les Fonds de pension (with Jean-Chrisophe Le Duigou [Pour & Contre, 2002]), is the preeminent study of this subject.
	Bill’s emergence as a key international leader in corporate governance has not been without peril. In the State of California (the home jurisdiction of both his employer and CalPERS), he is continually forced to protect the principles of good governance from political interference. When CalPERS’ initial activities were perceived by powerful business interests within California as too threatening, the Governor and legislature sought to reconstitute the CalPERS board so as to be more within the control of politicians. It was Bill’s skills, tenacity and courage that defeated this wellfunded effort.
	Bill is recognized as a leader in this field, and has used that role to widely disperse the message of good governance. He is a prolific author and speaker, regularly appearing before global and diverse audiences.
	Retirement from the CalPERS board of trustees has not lessened Bill’s involvement in corporate governance. He continues in his role with CSU (focusing even more on the US-France relationship), and continues to be an active and frequent speaker. In fact, his retirement from CalPERS has opened Bill to new audiences, further enlarging the scope of potential influence. Recognition by the ICGN of Bill’s leadership and contributions to the field will provide even more opportunities for Bill to fulfill his lifelong missions: to educate, to advocate, and to influence.

Commonwealth Association for Corporate Governance
The Commonwealth Association for Corporate Governance was established in April 1998 in response to the Edinburgh Declaration of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in 1997, with the aim of promoting excellence in corporate governance in the Commonwealth. It now has 30 Affiliate organisations from across the world.

“These are all entities that promote corporate governance through education and information, making the Affiliates group arguably the largest grouping of entities promoting corporate governance in the world.

CACG’s approach is consistent with its beliefs that practices cannot be imposed. It therefore uses experts to explain how corporate governance works in their own countries, to ask how it could apply in the country concerned and then to help develop the capacity for implementation.

Since its inception CACG has carried out the following in and for Commonwealth “developing countries”:

	Conducted practical corporate governance workshops in some 25 countries.
	Facilitated the establishment of institutional capacity that promotes corporate governance.
	Produced a set of Principles for Corporate Governance in the Commonwealth that was ratified by the Head of Commonwealth countries in Durban in 2000 and now applies to 53 countries. Most developing Commonwealth countries use these Principles to develop their own Codes of Best Practice for Corporate Governance.
	Produced/producing practical Guidelines on: o Principles for Corporate Governance in Kenya and Sample Code of Best Practice for Corporate Governance o Boards and Directors o Monitoring of Boards and Directors in Government Companies (in draft form) o Model Annual Report (being worked on)
	Developed, using a group of Commonwealth technical experts, and delivered, a five day company directors’ course. The course has been conducted in East Africa, Central Africa, the Pacific, Sri Lanka and India. It will be delivered in East Asia, the Caribbean, West Africa and Fiji later this year. Practising or aspiring directors attend the course and, if they pass an exam and assessment of syndicate performance, are awarded a Certificate from the Commonwealth Secretariat and CACG. At each initial course there are potential trainers who, if considered appropriate by local affiliates of CACG and CACG itself, are certified to deliver the course in the future. The course uses a generic Powerpoint presentation showing what is considered best international practice. This can then be modified to suit local conditions. In East Africa the Private Sector Corporate Governance Trust of Kenya and ESAMI have been authorised as course delivers. They have already delivered two courses in Kenya and plan to conduct another ten courses later this year in Kenya and other East African countries. Since about 50 people attend each course, there should be a total of around 650 trained directors in East Africa by the end of 2002. This approach has been taken since previous approaches of bringing a few directors from developing countries to a recognised course in a developed country had failed to make an impact in their home countries – the need was for a fast build-up of a critical mass of trained directors in any one country.
	Held three conferences (in Johannesburg, Kenya and Kuala Lumpur) on practical aspects of corporate governance. Future meetings will be hands-on workshops.

All this activity has been achieved with an annual budget of around £25,000 plus some specific project support. The Chief Executive of CACG is quoted as saying “there is no other organisation out on the ground promoting practical aspects of corporate governance and having such a major impact on so many countries.

Laureate Comments 2003

Last year the Committee proposed, and the Board approved, asking previous ICGN Award winners to participate as advisors in selection. Each of the 2001 and 2002 laureates agreed to serve in this process. For your information, we include sample remarks below:

	Sir Adrian Cadbury “I was very pleased to learn of the choices for this year's ICGN Awards. I think that both are very worthy winners and it is appropriate that you should have chosen a corporate governance organisation and an outstanding individual for the 2003 Awards. Both proposals have my full support.”
	Jesus Estanislao "I think the awards are well deserved. More power to you."